Forget Belgian truffles and Swiss chocolate – this bar is about as British as they come, with cocoa grown not in the tropics, but in Berkshire.
Researchers from the University of Reading have created a chocolate bar made from entirely British ingredients.
The cocoa pods were grown in a climate–controlled centre at the university before being cracked open to harvest the beans.
These were then spread out, dried and fermented in the English sun, before being crushed into a powder.
This was combined with British–grown sugar and milk to create a chocolate mix which was then heated, shaped and formed into a ready–to–eat chocolate bar.
Amazingly, the chocolate bar is the first of its kind since 1932.
That year, Rowntrees gave a six–year–old Princess Elizabeth – who later became Queen Elizabeth II – the only other bar of UK–grown chocolate ever made.
Maha Khan, a food security master’s student who created the chocolate bar, said: ‘It has been amazing to follow the entire chocolate–making process, from pod to bean to bar, without leaving Reading.’
Researchers from the University of Reading have developed a chocolate bar made from entirely British ingredients. Pictured: Maha Khan, who created the bar
First, cocoa pods were grown in a climate–controlled centre at the university (left) before being cracked open to harvest the beans (right)
Ms Khan continued: ‘This British bar of chocolate highlights the precarious nature of our food supplies.
‘Cocoa plants are very sensitive to changes in temperature and rainfall, and climate change is already causing problems in countries that produce most of the world’s cocoa.
‘Protecting different varieties is vital if farmers need hardier plants that can cope with a changing climate.
‘I hope this shows people just how much work goes into the chocolate we enjoy, and how important it is to protect cocoa farmers and communities around the world.’
While the UK’s chocolate market is worth £10.4billion, it is entirely reliant on imported cocoa, the researchers said.
This highlights the importance of internationally traded food to global farmers, UK consumers and the economy.
Professor Carol Wagstaff, director of AgriFood Futures at the University of Reading, said: ‘The UK chocolate industry rests on a supply chain that starts thousands of miles away in the tropics of Africa, South America and Asia.
‘A resilient global market is crucial to the many smallholder farmers who underpin the industry and find themselves farming in some of the regions most exposed to risks from climate change, as well as to chocolate makers and chocolate lovers in the UK.
The chocolate bar is the first of its kind since 1932. That year, Rowntrees gave a six–year–old Princess Elizabeth (pictured) – who later became Queen Elizabeth II – the only other bar of UK–grown chocolate ever made
The beans were then spread out, dried and fermented in the English sun, before being crushed into a powder
This was combined with British–grown sugar and milk to create a chocolate mix which was then heated, shaped and formed into a ready–to–eat chocolate bar
‘While growing and buying local produce often makes sense for your health, and helps the economy and environment, it is not a universal rule.
‘International trade in food can be a good thing, providing economic stability for communities whilst using natural energy resources for production, and we need to invest in research to keep threats at bay.’
The ‘100 per cent British’ creation has been named the Reading 100 Chocolate Bar, to mark the University’s 100th anniversary.
Last year, a report from Christian Aid warned that rising temperatures and erratic rainfall have ‘hammered’ cocoa harvests in Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon and Nigeria.
These four West African countries are responsible for producing approximately 70 per cent of the world’s cocoa, the key ingredient in chocolate.
Cocoa prices have risen 400 per cent to $12,218 (£9,800) per ton after droughts, floods and climate–related diseases hit west African cocoa farmers last year, it says.
Higher temperatures and more irregular rainfall make growing conditions less than ideal for the cocoa tree, which relies on finely tuned conditions to thrive.
Osai Ojigho, director of policy and public campaigns at Christian Aid, said climate change is ‘causing havoc’ to chocolate production.
Ms Khan said the British bar of chocolate ‘highlights the precarious nature of our food supplies’
‘Growing cocoa is a vital livelihood for many of the poorest people around the world and human caused climate change is putting that under serious threat,’ she said.
A separate group of scientists are taking a radically different approach to making chocolate – by growing it in the lab from harvested cocoa cells.
CEO Alan Perlstein wants to provide everyone with ‘real high–quality chocolate at an affordable price’ – and it could be on shelves by the end of the decade.
‘The cultivation of chocolate has led to destruction of much of the untouched tropical forests of the world,’ he told the Daily Mail.
‘Now, with cocoa shortages as well as quality issues we’re seeing poor imitations taking the place of our childhood classics.
‘We can basically change all of that with the technology we’re developing.’
The technology could become particularly important as cocoa prices and supplies are increasingly affected by extreme weather, disease and changing growing conditions in major producing countries.
